Boone County will be the first county in the state of Kentucky to create a Transportation Improvement District.
On Tuesday, the Boone County Fiscal Court conducted a second reading of an ordinance that would create the district, which is a special-purpose governmental entity created to coordinate and fund transportation-related projects within a specific geographic area.
The ordinance passed with a 3-1 vote. Judge/Executive Gary Moore and Commissioners Cathy Flaig and Jesse Brewer voted yes while Commissioner Chet Hand voted no.
Hand said the rationale behind his no vote came from personal opposition to the creation of more permanent boards in Boone County.
“I’m personally opposed to the formation of any additional boards or commissions and I’m not going to be supporting the ordinance because of that,” Hand said.
Touted by Moore as another “tool in the toolbox,” the new Transportation Improvement District will allow the county to pool public and private funding to finance infrastructure projects.
“It’s a new law in Kentucky enabling legislation that would allow us to do this,” Moore said. “Now that the tool is available, I think we can do better as we go forward.”
The Kentucky House of Representatives passed HB274 in 2022, which authorized qualifying city and county governments to create a Transportation Improvement District. Gov. Andy Beshear signed the legislation into law in May of that year. Per the new law, local governments in Kentucky were allowed to start forming the districts on July 1, 2023.
Transportation Improvement Districts are used throughout the United States but are prevalent in Ohio. Boone County joins Warren, Butler, Clermont and Hamilton counties as areas in the Greater Cincinnati region with established districts.
Eligible costs under a Transportation Improvement District include construction, property acquisition, demolition or removal services, site preparation, equipment, communication facilities, financing expenses, studies and professional services.
County Administrator Matthew Webster mentioned that Boone County had already received calls from several cities in the county, as well as Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, inquiring about the potential of the Transportation Improvement District.
On Jan. 9, Wade Williams — a consultant from the Cincinnati-based Montrose Group — conducted a presentation to the fiscal court about the creation of a Transportation Improvement District in Boone County. At the time, Williams said the Montrose Group and Boone County officials were actively collaborating on a fiscal court recommendation to create the district.
During that meeting, commissioners Cathy Flaig, Chet Hand and Jesse Brewer raised concerns regarding the creation of another permanent board, district financing vehicles, and compensation of future board members.
“One of my high-level concerns is that we have too many boards and commissions in Boone County, and the majority of them end up – again, I’m generalizing, broad brush stroking here – but they are unelected bureaucratic entities with no accountability to the voter,” Hand said during the Jan. 9 meeting.
Despite this, the court conducted a first reading of the ordinance at Moore’s recommendation. However, at the following fiscal court meeting on Jan. 23, the court voted to permanently table the ordinance, instead opting to conduct a first reading of a new ordinance that featured alterations to the original’s language.
“We incorporated suggestions,” Webster said. “We had additional suggestions presented before the first reading. Those have all been incorporated as read at first reading.”
Prior to the second reading of the ordinance on Tuesday, Flaig and Brewer both mentioned they had their doubts about the Transportation Improvement District when it was first presented, but ultimately decided to support the ordinance after changes were implemented to its language after deliberation.
“When I first looked at the project, I was really not in favor of it,” Flaig said. “We all gave you ideas of what we wanted changed, and you pretty much did what we asked and I thank you for that.”
The governing structure of a Transportation Improvement District requires the creation of a board of trustees appointed by a county legislative body. The responsibilities of the board include adopting bylaws, overseeing Transportation Improvement District affairs, ensuring smooth functioning, approving projects, and ensuring compliance with the legislative framework.
The board is required by law to include five voting members. Two members must be members of the local chamber of commerce, although a representative from any active Boone County business group could qualify for a seat. The rest of the board is comprised of non-voting members appointed by the largest city in the county and one non-voting member appointed by the county planning commission. All board members are required to be residents of Boone County.
In order to authorize projects, the board must hold a public meeting and publish a meeting notice to field questions and input from community members. After the board authorizes a project, it would require final approval from the county’s governing body. In this case, it would be the Boone County Fiscal Court.
Moore said he would like the county to begin putting together the board quickly.
“We want to be sure that if the legislature does create a PILOT funding mechanism for a T.I.D. — that we’re the one that gets it rather than some other part of the state — that we’re ready to receive funds,” Moore said.
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